Pheromonal: One Night With the Alpha novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39: "Vacation"

Cracking an eye open, I scowl at Penelope. "Interesting? That’s what you’re going with?"

She shrugs, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Would you prefer ’hot’ or ’steamy’ instead?"

"I’d prefer we never speak of this again," I groan, sliding down the door until I’m sitting on the floor.

Penelope plops down next to me, bumping her shoulder against mine. "Come on, Nikki. You can’t deny there’s something there."

I shake my head vehemently. "There’s nothing there except a stubborn werewolf who can’t take no for an answer."

"A stubborn, hot werewolf," she corrects.

"Penelope!"

She holds up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I’ll stop. But seriously, Nicole, what are you going to do?"

Resting my head against the door, I just... sigh. "I don’t know. I can’t even think about him right now."

"But you want to, don’t you?"

Letting silence fall between us, I close my eyes. Shoving him out the door took all the energy in my limbs. I’m drained from fighting off his pheromones.

"It doesn’t matter what I want," I say finally. "What matters is that I’m still a suspect in Scott’s murder, and Logan is investigating the case. Any... feelings... between us would just complicate things."

* * *

Monday starts with a bang.

Not a literal one. Probably a bad metaphor, considering the circumstances.

First, there’s the coffee delivered to Penelope’s apartment. It’s fragrant and ordered exactly how I like it, which—how does Logan even know that? I guess he’s a better detective than I gave him credit for.

Penelope, of course, gushed over it. Maybe because she’s a minor coffeeholic.

But then he called her phone. Not my phone. Penelope’s phone. All to tell her to go back to bed and tell me to take my sweet ass to the taxi waiting in front of her apartment building.

Sweet ass is a direct quote, or so she claims.

That’s when Penelope declared him husband material. It’s amazing how quickly she’s turned to his side, all because she gets to sleep in. I get it. She’s a night owl. Going to bed at the wee hours of morning, only to wake up a couple hours later to drag my car-less ass to work is not a fun time.

But that’s not all. No.

On my free ride to work, my insurance agent calls to let me know they’re overnighting a check for the full replacement cost of my vehicle, as long as I approve the replacement cost. What? After dragging their heels all week?

And to top it all off, the price is reasonable. So reasonable, in fact, that I agree to it on the spot. I’ll finally be able to get a new car and stop relying on Penelope.

A little dizzy from the whiplash of positive happenings in the grand span of sixty minutes, I’m almost unprepared for the gloomy atmosphere when I walk into the office.

Almost.

Because, even if the pendulum of luck finally swung to my benefit, I still know there’s a long, long road ahead.

The moment I step into the office, the usual buzz of activity dies. It’s like someone hit a mute button on the entire floor. Heads swivel in my direction, eyes wide and curious. For a heartbeat, I freeze, my feet refusing to move forward. ƒгeewebnovёl_com

Get it together, Nicole.

I force myself to walk, one foot in front of the other, heading straight for my cubicle. No one approaches. No friendly waves, no casual "good mornings." Just stares. Silent, judging stares that follow my every move.

Okay. To be fair, I’m not exactly the kind of coworker who gets the greetings on a regular basis anyway. But the weight of everyone’s eyeballs is heavier today, for obvious reasons.

My throat tightens. Silly to think I’d be able to walk into work and, oh, I don’t know, do my job. Not with these kinds of rumors going around. "Of course. I’ll be right there."

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